The Soap Smart Router With Android | Accessible Network Access

As much as an Android evangelist as I am, it’s the features and the usability that get me excited about the Soap Touch Smart Router. As someone who knows there way around network sniffers, port forwarding, proxies and access controls, I can appreciate how frustrating it must be for your average Joe user to manage and maintain their own home network without support. In addition, the perpetual trend around analytics continues into the home network by giving you the ability to glean insight from what goes on and the ability to see it happen in real time. What the heck am I talking about? Well, this new device being funded on Kickstarter:

The people behind Soap want this to be an enhanced home networking device that is easy to use and powerful enough for any serious networking buffs to get excited about. Here’s a list of things you’ll be able to do with Soap:

Parental controls to block sites and set time limits on a device-by-device level, so you can make sure family can only access content appropriate for their age.

Block ads at a network-wide level, so there’s no need for plugins on each device you want to block ads on.

Gives you a detailed breakdown of how much data you’re using.

Ninja mode that allows you to connect to the router without broadcasting its existence (pretty much like hiding your SSID).

Spy mode will let you see what each device is doing on the network, and can even stream their screen in real-time to Soap’s display.

Built-in support for tons of popular automated home solutions.

Access to all these settings and information from your mobile device. When paired up with Soap’s home automation features, you will get a pain-free way of controlling all aspects of your connected home through the same app (whereas most solutions typically require an individual app for each component in your system).

The device runs on a Freescale processor, has the requisite ports and expansion capabilities and will even sport a battery if they rake in enough cash. The fact that it’s designed to be open will enable a vast range of apps that will be able to work with it and some great features. It’s only conjecture, but I would think streaming, security, and other areas would be covered. Backing to get anything from a beta device to a package will run you anywhere from $150 to $250. Have a look!